Feedback to sponsor and team

What do we mean by cognitive preferences? And how do they shape our behaviour and interactions?

A good example of cognitive preferences at work is signing something.

Our signature is unique to us -- it is the outcome of years of practice and use, and it is influenced by a number of both cognitive and behavioural variables.

Consider whether we are right-handed or left-handed. Neither of these is better than they other -- they are simply an outward expression of how we're "wired". From a brain perspective, people who are left handed are right-brain dominant, while right handers are left-brain dominant.

As an adult, when we sign something, we tend to do it on autopilot. We simply sign.

Now imagine I asked you to switch hands and sign with your non-dominant hand. How does that feel?

Most people say it feels awkward. It's extra work. And for most of us, it doesn't produce the outcome we think is "right".

And yet... you can sign your name with your non-dominant hand.

Preferences work in a very similar way. If I asked you to think about where your business will be in five years, some of you will sit back, peer up into the sky, and imagine. And some of you will begin the task of collecting data to analyze and project into the future. Neither of these approaches is more right than the other -- they will both get you to a picture of the future state -- but these two approaches are also good examples of preferences at work. One more "intuitive". One more "fact-based".

Both have their place. Both have upsides and downsides.

We can learn to appreciate and leverage these differences into a much more powerful whole. Just as we can learn to be aware of our own preferences, appreciate those of our team mates, and accommodate -- and celebrate! -- the differences.

These preferences about how we think and how we act shape our interactions with our team members and our environment.

Every individual on the team has a distinct set of cognitive preferences that influence how they communicate, frame business issues, gather information, make decisions, and act on the decisions they make. Sharing preference data helps each person on the team develop an in-depth awareness of their own unique preferences related to cognition and behaviour. These individual preferences are neither good nor bad, right nor wrong, better nor worse than the preferences of any other individual on the team.

Our focus is on helping each individual understand how the world works for them.

Working with the team leader, we craft a highly customized series of working sessions designed to engage the entire team. These working sessions create an appreciation among team members about how their preferences interact, and illustrate how these interactions can contribute to the team’s ability to work effectively together.

Once we are clear on how the team’s preferences combine to create a unique team dynamic, we can focus on accommodation, helping team members leverage their individual diversities to even greater productivity.